One Man, His Ukulele, and a Trip to Hawaii

ukuraleigh

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Just back from a 10-day trip to Hawaii that include some time on my favorite island of Lana'i and a conference in Waikiki. I skipped looking forward to Christmas this past year and instead channeled all of my excitement on this trip. It would be the first time in 20+ trips to Hawaii that I would be taking an ukulele with me.

My instrument of choice was a Makai soprano I had recently purchased from UkeRepublic. Small enough, nice enough, but not so expensive that I would mind if it got dinged up.

Anyway, taking my uke with me turned out to be every bit of the great decision I hoped it would be. Here's a recap of my Hawaiian ukulele adventure.

A man, a kindle, and a beach.

First up, I spent a day on the beautiful Hulopo'e Beach on Lana'i. This seemed a fitting place to read bazmaz's new book "More Of What Ukulele Players Really Want To Know" on my kindle.

A quick, but both entertaining and informative read.

Click here to see photo.

Shredding with Auntie Irene

Next up, the Four Season's Lana'i had arranged for me to have a private lesson with resident Hawaiian culture expert, Auntie Irene. It was fun to (literally) sit down with Irene and play some Hawaiian classics. The lesson was pretty basic--Lovely Hula Hands, E Huli Makou--until she decided to end the lesson with a little Santana! She seemed a little disappointed that I couldn't stay longer, but I had already arranged to go meet Albert.

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Meet Albert

Albert Morita is a quiet, humble man. He plays ukulele for local senior resident homes and his 6-string Kamaka Tenor is perfect for the hula dancers he supports. We met at the Lana'i Cultural & Heritage Center, which meant visitors that afternoon were treated to a little background music while they toured this excellent museum. Albert was patient with me, but also stretched me to play some tougher songs, and some chords I had not played before. We played for about 90 minutes, and even had a hula dancer join us! That was a trip! Afterwards, we grabbed lunch in Lana'i City and "talked story."

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On my lanai on Lana'i

In between all of that, I learned the skill of playing an ukulele as softly as possible--something Jake has preached as a skill. Sitting out on my lanai in the early hours, watching for whales, I spent plenty of time playing my uke.

Click to view photo.

My Happy Place

My wife--the Hawaii travel expert--happened to mention that Lana'i is her "Happy Place." So, one afternoon on the beach, I composed and wrote a song entitled just that: Happy Place. I'm still fine tuning it, but will have a video up shortly.

Click to view photo.


Waikiki Bound

Moving from the quiet of Lana'i to the hustle and bustle of Waikiki was a culture shock, for sure. Fortunately, at least two friends were there with ukuleles they had bought in Waikiki. This gave me a chance to jam a little with them.

First, at a social media meetup at the Modern Hotel (photo).

Then, on the beach at sunset (photo).


Haleiwa Can Mean Only One Thing!

On our last day, we decided to spend some time in Haleiwa. Such a pretty little town and the perfect opportunity to stop by Hawaii Music Supply and meet MGM in person.

Talk about a kid in a candy store! MGM has that little store stuffed to the gills with ukuleles. You name it, he pretty much had it. I tried really hard to satisfy my UAS itch, but having just bought a Pono Concert from HMS a month before, I just couldn't justify another new uke--I have 10 already.

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Still, MGM was very nice and tried his best to find something unique to add to my collection. No ukulele purchase this time, but I did walk away with a great photo with the man himself.


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So, that's my trip. I'm sure it comes across as boasting, but when you have an ukulele experience as rich as this, you just can't help sharing!

Mahalo for reading!
 

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Ukuraleigh - thanks for sharing your trip! I love reading Hawaii/ukulele trip reports. I've never been to Hawaii and all these wonderful experiences get filed away for when I do finally get to go.

Glad you had such a wonderful time!

Nix
 
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I want a great big print of that one under the umbrella to put in front of me while I'm practicing!

It sounds like a wonderful trip altogether.
 
Thank you for sharing your trip. I have also never been to Hawaii..someday I would love to go, but until then I can enjoy all the posts and dream!!! Someday!
 
Great trip report. I love reading about other people's adventures in Hawai'i. Mahalo for sharing and for all the photos!
 
Just when I think I'm going to make it through the winter I read and see pics like this reminding me how much I love it there. Time to start saving and dreaming.. Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks, for sharing!...

I need to save some money!!!...
 
BTW guys, I also wrote an article on how to buy an ukulele on Oahu (Waikiki, Honolulu, and beyond). Might be old news to most of you, but it includes my recommendations of where to buy, including a hat-tip to Hawaii Music Supply.

As link dropping is frowned upon, just hit the "Go Visit Hawaii" link in my sig and look at the latest post.

Cheers!
 
BTW guys, I also wrote an article on how to buy an ukulele on Oahu (Waikiki, Honolulu, and beyond). Might be old news to most of you, but it includes my recommendations of where to buy, including a hat-tip to Hawaii Music Supply.

As link dropping is frowned upon, just hit the "Go Visit Hawaii" link in my sig and look at the latest post.

Cheers!

You are the govisithawaii guy! I've used your site to plan 2 trips there. I wish your uke buying article had been around a couple of years ago. My wife and I were on Oahu for our honeymoon. I dragged her all over the island searching for the right uke before finally finding the old hms store... It was a a great adventure though and now we have our "honeymoon uke".

Thanks for the great site!
 
You are the govisithawaii guy! I've used your site to plan 2 trips there. I wish your uke buying article had been around a couple of years ago. My wife and I were on Oahu for our honeymoon. I dragged her all over the island searching for the right uke before finally finding the old hms store... It was a a great adventure though and now we have our "honeymoon uke".

Thanks for the great site!

I can't take the credit. My wife, Sheila, is the driving force behind Go Visit Hawaii. I do the photos, videos, and backend web stuff--and the occasional post. ;-) Thanks for the praise, I will let her know!
 
Mahalo for sharing your GREAT trip to Hawaii!!! Pictures were outstanding!!
 
really enjoyed the thread and all the pics, great concept and so glad you made the most of your holiday, i would love to be able to get to Hawaii for a week or two
 
How fun! We got married in Hawaii almost 11 years ago. I hope to go back someday!
 
Always great reading about an awesome vacation! Thanks for sharing. I live vicariously through these kind of posts!!
 
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